The US and Iran continue to exchange blows, even beyond the battlefield, as the war of optics appears equally important amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia. On Sunday, March 29, Iran’s military released another video in which its spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, issued a warning to the US, saying that if Americans attempted a ground invasion, the consequences would be dire.
Zolfaghari, in the latest video released by Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters, said that US troops would become ‘good food for the sharks of the Persian Gulf’ if they attempted a ground invasion of Iran.
This statement comes amid media reports that the US is considering sending around 10,000 troops to the Middle East, possibly as part of plans to carry out a ground attack on Iran.
Taking a swipe at US President Donald Trump, the Iranian military spokesperson called him a pawn of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and added that he is sending the US Army into ‘a deadly quagmire’.
Calling any US attempt to capture Iranian territory nothing more than a dream, he said that the Army of the Islamic Republic has long been waiting for such actions to prove that aggression and occupation will result in nothing but humiliating captivity, dismemberment, and the disappearance of the aggressors.
Meanwhile, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said Iranian forces were ‘waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever’, according to Iranian state media, AP reported. He also dismissed the talks as a cover, following the arrival of around 2,500 US Marines in the Middle East who are trained in amphibious landings.
Earlier, Iran’s national English daily Tehran Times warned the US with a front-page cover showing American troops boarding a carrier, captioned: ‘Welcome to Hell. US troops who step foot on Iranian soil will leave only in a coffin.’
Going by the remarks of US secretary of state Marco Rubio, the war may not stretch into ‘months’ but could instead be concluded within ‘weeks’. However, he also said that all options remain open for President Donald Trump, defending the move to send troops to the Middle East.
